Letter to Julia 20120321

In the name of Allah, most Gracious, most Merciful.

I hope you're not going around telling people what's lawful or unlawful in Islam when you don't really know, or worse if you made it up. If people need guidance, then guide them to the Qur'an, or to a legitimate imam or teacher. You are a supermodel, not an imam. You and I are still learning the Qur'an, and how our lives pertain to it. The Qur'an is to be learned slowly, so please work on your own heart, and take your time, before you would tell others what to do in the name of Allah.

Anyway, squid. Yes, instead of buying half a kilo of mackerel, I found a pretty fair deal on half a kilo of squid at only RM2 more. They were kind of smallish, but I had half a kilo to work with. After all, squid tastes like squid, and more squid tastes squiddier, right? Well, maybe. Have you ever had squid jerky? Now, that really tastes like squid. A cowboy once told me that squid jerky tastes almost like chicken. Anyway, fresh squid SHRINKS when cooked. One wouldn't think so when eating deep-fried calamari rings, but when I stuffed my squid with fried eggplant and cream cheese, the squid squirted it all out when cooked, and turned my broth into a sickly looking white. It tasted OK, but it looked like hell. Meanwhile, the bigger squid shrunk to the size of half a pinkie, while the small ones shrunk to the size of a thumbtack. I thought I would tie the tops up with toothpicks, but I didn't have any. Lesson learned. Next time, I'll buy the big (and more expensive) squid, and stuff squid only with squid.

But it is always better to prepare your own food, and from the freshest ingredients. Given our position and who we are, certainly we are aware that we have no privacy. But it's not just cameras and microphones pointed at us. Observe again how numerous the cases are of celebrities who die in their own homes, or during their daily routines. In the name of "entertainment". But the warning is from Allah: that the war against evil is real, and we must make the effort to oppose evil, and not simply lie down and let them overwhelm us. Seek protection with Allah against evil, for strong as the others may be, the Strongest is Allah.